Heart of a Punk Soul of a Rasta

The Big Pil

Are we ready for PIL Bigot?
Yes, I am Edward.
Can I tell the good people the story of when we saw PIL back in 1983 Bigot?
I wonder why you want to retell that particular story Deadward.
Err 'cause it was on the 12th December '83 in Birmingham and that's pretty close to the 18th December Birmingham 2009 at the O2 Academy?
You know that's bollo! Out of all the PIL gigs we've been to, you want to revisit that particular one. Well I know where you're going with this one, but let me tell you you're going to pay a heavy price for it later.
Hey John you don't have to leave, John! John?

So to Public Image Limited on 12th December 1983 at the Odeon Theatre Birmingham, it had been a couple of years since The Bigot & I had seen PIL live but we'd just had the products "This is not a Love Song" (single) and "Live in Tokyo" (album) thrust upon us, so armed with Row K front stalls seats we were off to Brum. Due to the impressively high levels of alcohol intake in '83 I have only one shattered vestige of a memory from this gig, the encore, "Religion". As soon as the lights had dimmed and Mr Lydon had made his way onstage we'd left all our belongings under our seats on row K and (as was convention) pegged it down to "the front" between row A and the stage. Our belongings at this time would have been of a semi precious nature and probably would have consisted of the following: one Ruby Red Records plastic bag containing a camera, a box of England's Glory, a tape recorder, a UB40 card, a small piece of blow, a cuddly toy, two emergency bottles of Barley Wine (in case we missed the last train these could be exchanged with a tramp and so dissuade him from bumming us - if not given away drunk for breakfast), two packets of players No.10, a packet of "Plain" Walkers Crisps (the more black storks, eyes, skin and green bits the better) and finally John's lucky 14 inch Kukri (gurkha knife). When I say John's lucky Kukri I mean lucky in the sense that since he'd started taking it to gigs (around the Sham 69 Top Rank gig in '79) we'd never got involved in any argy bargy - luckily. If you're a young person reading this article you may well be wondering how we were able to get all these precious items into the venue. Well let me assure you this was nothing special and a pretty typical bunch of items that most punters would take to a gig, also we knew Pete on the door so everything was cushtie.

Anyway PIL shuffled off to prepare for the encore and The Bigot and I went back to our seats to retrieve our goods. When the lights went out and PIL took to the stage again and started bash out "Religion" we stayed put, deciding just to sit on the backs of our chairs. And this was when the rotter Mr Lydon decided to play a trick on us poor punters, he wound "Religion" up and up into a ranting mantra crescendo "This is religion, this is religion, this is religion……….." and then executed the coup de gras with a thunder clap explosion that ripped through and reverberated round the Odeon. POW! I looked to my right, the Bigot had gone, and I looked to my left, nope not there either. I stood up and looked about, people were leaving at the back of the auditorium but there was no sign of him there either. Then all of a sudden he popped up from the floor of row L, Mr Lydon's pyrotechnics had taken him by surprise and blown him off the back of his chair. Lucky there no one in Seat 15 Row L or they would have been fatally crushed, and lucky also that Bigot landed on his head so there was no damage done there either. Obviously if this sort of thing happened today compensation would have to be sort and various multi national companies would need to be sued and bankrupted. But this was '83 so we shuffled off home, the Bigot moaning and thankfully me being unable to hear a word he saying.

Now before we get on with the competition, if anyone knows how to clean up my "Metal Box" please feel free to contact me at soulofarasta@aol.com. Hey I've tried Brasso already!

Shine your box with Brasso it's only a penny a pot,
You can buy it or knick it from Woolworths it's sure to be filled to the brim,
Some say he was buried in gravel, some say he was buried in grit, but I know how he was buried, he was buried under a pile of…..
Shine your buttons in Brasso.

Anyone who knows the proper lyrics to the Brasso song, ditto soulofarasta@aol.com.